>> i know your hairspray is -- >> strong? >> all over. you should see on the commercial breaks. 4:59 -- >> giving away my strengths. >> stay with us. "news4 today" continues right now. a bizarre incident that police responding to the fairfax county courthouse overnight. prepare yourself for a heat wave as we head into the holiday weekend. good morning, everyone, i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this friday, may 25, 2012. it's 5:00 a.m., already 71 degrees. it is going to feel like summer this weekend. just like that. >> perfect timing for the memorial day weekend. the start of cultural summer if not meteorological summer which is june 1. and here's a look at -- from space looking down on our part of the planet. we've had a few clouds coming through overnight. they did produce showers, but they are now exiting the region, pavement is drying out.

and we have likely clearing sky as the day progresses. right now off to a mild start. reagan national at 72. and it's near 70 near the chesapeake bay. ocean right there on the atlantic, cooler there at 67. water temperatures only in the mid 60s. it's going to be cooler at the beaches for the weekend. in the 60s generally throughout most of virginia, maryland, into west virginia this morning. montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties in the upper 60s as we start off this morning. here's your day planner for this friday. great getaway weather. a partly sunny morning, partly cloudy afternoon. by mid morning, mid 70s. near 80 by noontime. mid-afternoon, ought to hit the mid 80s. sunrise at 5:48. sunset at 8:23. daylight hours are getting longer and longer. i'm back with another update in ten minutes. danella's here with a look at traffic. good morning. good morning, checking things out if you're hitting the road early, thinking about taking 50 to head toward sandy point, travel lanes eastbound and westbound, nice and clear. no major delays at all if you're

trying to leave early, this is a great time because travel lanes are open. on the bridges, american legion bridge as you travel on the outer loop and the inner loop, travel lane open, no accidents to to see report. clear as you make your way into virginia and across the 14th street bridge. traveling into the district, light volume right now. no major delays at all, and no accidents. taking the rails, they look great. metro's looking good. marc, yesterday we had a canceled train on the brunswick east line. marc's not reporting any problem or delays. and vre is nice, as well. back to you. >> thank you. 5:2. you may want to get to the airport earlier than usual if you're flying out of town today. aaa expects 64,000 people from our area to fly this holiday weekend. that's actually down 5% from last year. overall, however, aaa expects more than 875,000 people to travel for the long holiday weekend, that's up nearly 2% from last year. most of them will be driving. new this morning, fairfax county police investigating a bizarre incident at the

courthouse. a man showed up there just before midnight with a gunshot wound. the victim told police he was shot in chantilly. he was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. right now police are trying to figure out if the shooting is connected to a stabbing that happened around the same time in chantilly. also new this morning, an elderly man is in the hospital after being burned in a kitchen fire. this happened before 10:00 last night at a home on old meadow rode in mclean, virginia. firefighters say the 91-year-old suffered third-degree burns. he was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries. two people in custody after shooting a b.b. gun at a prince george's county school bus. this happened in the 2200 block of piermont drive yesterday. the bus was carrying students from ft. foot elementary school. none of the students was hurt, and the bus only sustained slight damage. today, an historic moment for a new era in space.

the world's first private supply ship will dock with the international space station. the spacex "dragon" capsule passed within a mile of the iss yesterday for a series of tests. today a robotic arm from the lab will reach out and grab the capsule to dock it, as you see in this animation. aboard is more than 1,000 pounds of food, clothing, and supplies. "dragon" is scheduled to return to earth next thursday. if you were watching the night sky around 4:00 this morning, you may have been able to see the capsule, although tom said it was probably a little too cloudy. maryland lawmakers may not be returning to annapolis to decide on whether to expand gambling in the state. republicans from the house of delegates oppose a special legislative session to address the issue. they say special sessions should only be called in times of true crisis. earlier this week, governor martin o'malley said a session could be held in july if a group discussing gambling reaches an agreement. lawmakers are thinking of allowing table games at maryland casinos and allowing a casino in

prince george's county. one of d.c. mayor vincent gray's aides could be spending up to six months in prison for admitting that he lied to the fbi during an investigation into the mayor's 2010 campaign. howard brooks pled guilty in court yesterday. he admits he paid suleman brown. brown was a minor mayoral candidate who claims that gray's campaign paid him to attack then-mayor adrian fenty. according to court documents, brooks and two aides funneled at least $2,800 it brown. millions of future college students will have to wait until next month to find out if the rate on student loans will double. the senate rejected legislation yesterday that would keep the interest rate on millions of student loans at 3.4%. if no deal is. >> reporter: rea-- is reached b july 1, it will double. lawmaker are dedicateded to keeping the rate where it is. they can't agree on how to pay

for it. they call it a demonstration, not a parade. each memorial day weekend rolling thunder rides through the capital to to see show support for the military family. on sunday, the group will gather at the north pentagon parking lot. at unanimous the group will ride to the vietnam veterans memorial. the ride is followed by a gathering in front of the lincoln memorial. motorists should be prepared for rolling street closures on sunday. next week will be your opportunity to say good-bye to chuck brown. ♪ >> the godfather of go-go passed away last we can to age of 75. he'd been suffering from pneumonia. thousands of his fans are expected to attend a public viewing and memorial next week. the viewing will take place on tuesday at the howard theater from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. the memorial service will happen next thursday from noon until 3:00 p.m. that will be at the washington convention center. 5:06.

71 degrees. new picture of the september 11 mastermind that has people at the pentagon fired up. also ahead, what we're learning about the man behind one of the most publicized missing child cases. scrambling to get ready as hurricane bud edges closer to making landfall. and a warm, humid start to the day.

after 82 days of freedom, a runaway penguin is home. the humboldt penguin escaped the sea life park in march after scaling a 13-foot rock fence. wow. the penguin had no health problems, and he or she will be back on display soon. kind of feel bad for the little guy or girl. he was enjoying freedom and had to be back in the aquarium. i'm sure there's a reason why he

has to be back in the aquarium. >> i'm sure he'll get out again if he has to. and we'll look at the long holiday weekend ahead. tom? >> weather & traffic on the 1s at 5:11. good morning. temperatures now in the 60s to near 70. partly sunny by mid morning, mid 70s. here's your day planner for this friday. by noontime, near 80. a partly cloudy afternoon with highs reaching the mid 80s. a slight chance of an isolated shower or thundershower later this afternoon. a look at the holiday weekend and into next week at 5:21. danella? good morning. traveling around the beltway, not seeing any accidents. travel lanes nice and open. if you're thinking of getting an early start. heading up i-95, first let's start with 295. making your way from baltimore to the beltway, nice and clear. same thing -- i'll give you a look at i-95 at 100. travel lanes are open. you subcommittee travelers, but no accidents or delays at all. back to you. >> thank you, danella. another earthquake overnight that has rattled a quake-weary community.

ahead, the steps prosecutors are taking to keep evidence in the trayvon martin case out of the public eye. plus, the expensive decision facing our military after a fire aboard one of its nuclear submarines. and his horse is one race away from history, but that's not clearing the controversy surr

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this morning the military continues to investigate the cause of a fire on a nuclear-powered submarine. it took 12 hours to put out the four-alarm fire. crews were among -- firefighters were among the seven injured in the blaze. as for the damage to the "uss miami," the military says the fire was contained to the forward section of the submarine that includes sleeping compartments and the torpedo room which was not loaded. it was in maine to be

overhauled. the nuclear reactor was shut down when it arrived at the shipyard in march. the man arrested in connection with one of the country's most publicized missing child cases will be in court today. 33 years ago today, etan patz disappeared while walking to his puss stop. police arrested 51-year-old pedro hernandez yesterday. police say hernandez admitted to luring the 6-year-old boy into a building with soda. hernandez then confessed to choking patz and dumping his body in the trash. >> hernandez had told a family member and others that he had "done a bad thing" and killed a child in new york. >> hernandez will be arraigned for second-degree murder today. patz was the first missing child to appear on a mix carton. lawyers -- on a mix carton. lawyers on both sides of the trayvon martin case have requested some evidence stay private. both sides filed motions asking that text messages, emails, and witness information stay sealed. normally that information is part of the public record under florida law. both sides say releasing this

information would make it difficult to find an impartial jury. u.s. military officials are investigating whether new pictures of the man behind 9/11 were smuggled out of guantanamo bay. photos of khalid sheikh muhammed were posted on a jihadist web site this week. investigators are looking into if the pictures were taken at gitmo or just photo-shopped. mu ham ed is accused of the disaster. an army soldier faces life in prison after trying to blow up a restaurant in texas. a federal jury found private first class nasr jason abdo guilty of attempted murder and attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. he went awolg after trying to blow up a restaurant full of soldier in ft. hood last july. he'll be sentenced in a couple of months. 5:17. the gsa executive in charge of a lavish conference in las vegas has officially left the organization. jeffrey neely, in the center here, retired from the gsa

yesterday. gsa officials placed neely on administrative leave in april after details of the expensive vegas trip became public. there were accusations of spending thousands on unnecessary trips, activity, and parties. the administrator for the general services administration and two other top aides were fired or resigned because of that scandal. today marks the sixth day of jury deliberations in the john edwards corruption trial. the jittury doesn't appear to b close to a verdict. the jury asked to review all 500-plus pieces of evidence including details of money give to edwards during his presidential campaign. legal experts say fact that the jury has sequested the evidence again means they -- requested the evidence again means they are not close to agreeing on a murder. new zealand recovering from yet another earthquake. a 4.6 quake rattled the eastern city of christchurch earlier today. there are no reports of serious damage or injuries. christchurch experienced a 6.1 earthquake in february of 2011. it killed 185 people and

completely decimated the city's downtown. 10,000 homes were destroyed. another 100,000 damaged in last year's earthquake. hurricane bud is expected to make landfall today. the storm weakened a little overnight and is a category 2 storm. mexico's government has issued a hurricane watch along the coast including the popular tourist spot of porta villarta. it could dump a foot of rain causing flash floods and landslides. this is the first pacific hurricane of the 2012 season. it is early, though. we know we'll get a few more. >> true. >> at least. and the -- >> the atlantic hurricane season starts june 1. we heard yesterday one to three, i think that's what i heard in terms of big storms they think could happen? yeah, the major ones with winds over 110, 111 miles per hour possible. an average season is the way it's looking. as we look outside now this morning for your getaway weather for the memorial holiday weekend, no travel problems weatherwise.

a few clouds coming through now. and we have had those overnight showers coming through. some of the pavement may be a little wet. that's beginning to dry out on this friday morning. temperatures around the region, they are mild, we're in the mid to upper 60s in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties, much of southern maryland, near the bay waters. it's in the low 70s. farther to the west, near the blue ridge, shenandoah valley, into the mountains of west virginia, western maryland, low 60s this morning. a very pleasant start to the holiday weekend. here is your four-day forecast for the afternoon. we should be reaching the mid 80s. and just a few clouds around. and then on saturday, in the morning, a rather cool start. down into the low 60s. afternoon highs, though, getting warmer, up near 90 degrees tomorrow afternoon. and partly cloudy. then more clouds around for sunday, and again, maemtd. both days, hot weather. afternoon highs reaching the 80s and morning lows in the 60s. then as we get back to work and

school on tuesday, it does look like we'll have some rain moving in. later in the day now is the timing on that, maybe with thunder and lightning with highs into the mid 80s. then on wednesday, maybe some morning showers. and then giving way to afternoon sunshine with highs near 80. and looks like a dry end to the week next week with your seven-day outlook. i'm back in just a few minutes with another look at your weather here. looks like good getaway weather at least weatherwise. so how it hacking on the roads, danella? -- looking on the roads, danella? looking good if you're thinking of heading out. nice and clear. here's a live look on 7. as it passes over the dulles toll road, below it here, no issue on 7. on the dulles toll road, here's a look as you make your way past sunset hills. westbound -- excuse me, eastbound, this is westbound here. eastbound we had a big accident yesterday. if you drive it, you're stuck in traffic. a seven-mile backup. not having that problem this morning. so far not seeing any accidents. traffic is flowing nicely as you

want to make your way from sunset hills and continue toward the beltway. and on the rails, checking those, no reported delays on the metro, marc, and vre. aaron and eun? >> thank you. metro is sinking big bucks over the next year into improving bus service. metro plans to invest $5 million to make sure service is more reliable and less crowded. this includes new limited stop routes along pennsylvania avenue and southeast. wisconsin avenue in northwest and along 16th street. the first round of improvement will be done sometime next month. bad blood between the nfl and players from last summer's contract talks may still be lingering. the players association is filing a lawsuit against all 32 teams accusing them of collusion. the suit charges that during the uncapped 2010 season, owners for all 32 teams had a secret cap in place that cost players at least $1 billion in wage. >> this is a business. but when we believe that people

work in concert to injure our players, what would you have me do? >> the redskins are one of two teams that were penalized for overloading contracts during the 2010 season. they are losing $36 million over the next two years because of the penalty. i'll have another has a chance -- i like saying it that way. >> i know you do, aaron. say it again -- >> i'll have another has a chance to become the first triple crown winner in 34 years. but this is actually being overshadowed a bit by some trouble for his trainer, doug o'neil will be suspended after the belmont stakes. one of o'neil's other horses was found to have high levels of cash dock after a race two years -- carbon dioxide after a race two years ago. sometimes a sign that the horse has been given an illegal performance-enhancing mixture. o'neil denied the charge and officials agreed with him. he still will be suspended 45 days and fined $15,000 because of a rule that says trainers are ultimately responsible for their horses. >> i hope it doesn't affect i'll have another's chances.

it would be great to see a triple crown winner this year. >> a cloud this time with this case. hopefully a nice -- >> do you want to say the name again? >> i'll have another coming down the homestretch. >> i see a career for you, aaron gilchrist. i want to tell you about the posse foundation. that's why i wasn't here yesterday. i was in new york city the night before attending the foundation for a terrific -- attentiding t gala for a triferrific foundati. they send grads, ten at a time, to partner schools throughout the country. the judged that when you send a student with his or her posse, as you see there, the chances of them succeeding far greater. especially if they come from areas that may not have the same support network as other kids might have in this country. terrific, the news is a brand new veterans posse supporting some veterans who want to go back to school after serving our country. terrific. >> great organization go.

to possefoundation.org for more. there is a d.c. chapter. they're doing great work with our kids. >> yeah. 5 -- coming up on 5:25 now. and ahead, trouble for trourists enjoying the -- tourists enjoying the sights in d.c. the incident that sent several to the hospital. the crowds you can expect if you're hitting the road for the holiday. and the beach is one popular destination this weekend. still thinking of replacing the truck? i just don't know where to start.

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looking at stories making headlines at 5:28, police in r investigating a bizarre incident after a man showed up at a courthouse with a gunshot wound. the first private supply ship is hours from docking with the international space station. nearly a million people in d.c. are ahead to hit the road for the unofficial start of

summer. tom kierein says the cultural start of summer. we'll have the holiday travel forecast in a moment. first, good morning, i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. welcome back to "news4 today." we'll have much more on those stories this morning. first, we want to talk about the all-important weather as the memorial day holiday weekend is here. it's shaping up to be a hot and humid weekend. warm out right now. 5:29, 71 degrees outside. we turn to meteorologist tom kierein. we're talking the heat index already. >> for the first time this weekend. our body are not acclimated yet. you -- our bodies are not acclimated yet. you need to stay hydrated. students got sick because they got dehydrated. yeah, you got to watch out for that, stay hydrated. have plenty of water if you're going to be out exerting yourself, playing volleyball on the beach. the last 12 hours, we had the overnight showers coming through. now, they have exited the region. in their wake, we have a little haze in the air.

and some clouds around. otherwise, no travel problems weatherwise as your heading out. if you're heading to the mountains, you'll be driving into clear areas. clear around the bay and eastern shore, the sky has cleared. if you're about to head across the bay bridge toward the eastern shore, you might run into a little fog. otherwise, no travel problems weatherwise. this morning, temperatures are mild, we're near 70 degrees in washington and right by the chesapeake bay. montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties, upper 60s. it's dipped to the mid 60s around the blue ridge, into western maryland, hagerstown to cumberland and around martinsburg, charlestown, winchester, and luray. just in the low to mid 60s there. southern part of maryland and around near the by waters and northern neck, it's around 70. weather watchers checking in this morning, reporting -- thanks for being up early and giving us reports. mid 70s by mid morning, a partly sunny morning. then mostly sunny to partly cloudy at times. by noontime, it should be near

80. during the afternoon hours, we ought to peak in the mid, maybe briefly upper 80s especially in virginia, under a partly cloudy sky. only a slight chance of an isolated thundershower later this afternoon. i'm back with another update in ten minutes. danella is here now with a look at our roads. good morning. good morning and good news. local roads look nice. here's a live look now if you're on 29 and fairland, southbound as well as northbound. nice and clear, in fact, in between fairland and the beltway, no accidents or major delays. let's head over to 395 at duke, northbound lanes nice and open. and in fact northbound, you're seeing more volume than southbound. really clear at this time. but no delays mean no troubles. look at this -- 61 miles per hour, about 12 minutes to get from the beltway to the 14th street bridge. and also crossing over the wilson bridge, travel lanes are open in both directions. no accidents, travel speed making your way to van dorn, 59 miles per hour, taking about six minutes to get from the wilson bridge to van dorn street. aaron and eun?

>> thanks. three students were treated after member of their tour group showed symptoms of dehydration. the 200-person group finished a walking tour in d.c. when they went to the rosalyn metro station at 9:00 last night. at least one of the students became sick on the platform. three were taken to the hospital for fluids. the station was closed for about 30 minutes as a precaution. just as marion barry tried to move past one controversy, it appears he might need to address another potential problem -- the ward 8 d.c. councilman met with members of the asian community to address disparaging comments he made last month while discussing racial tensions. he used a term for polish immigrant that is also considered offensive. >> italians caught hell, the jews caught hell, pollocks caught hell.

>> they said he meant to use the word "polls." he said he want to work with all groups from all backgrounds to make ward 8 a model for diversity. another aide facing prison time for admitting to lying to the fbi during an investigation into the mayor's 2010 mailyoral campaign. howard brooks pled guilty admitting to paying suleman brown, a minor candidate who claimed gray's campaign paid him to attack then-mayor fenty. according to court documents, brooks and two aides funneled at least $2,800 hun hu00 to brown. senate hopefuls in virginia will debate for the last time before voters head to the polls. former governor george allen is considered the front-runner to win the june 12 primary, but he'll first have to get past tea party leader jamie radke, e.w. jackson, and bob marshall. allen is trying to win back the seat he lost to jim webb six years ago. the gop winner will face former governor tim kaine, running

unopposed for the democratic nomination. a new poll shows how much impact president obama is having on the debate over same-sex marriage. according to a public policy poll, 57 likely voters in maryland, 57%, say they'll vote in favor of same-sex marriage if the issue makes it on to the november ball the. -- ballot. 37% of likely voters are against making the marriages legal. that 20% margin was just 12 in march. pollsters say the shift is almost entirely due to a change in attitude by african-american voters. president obama campaign i came out in support of same-sex marriage earlier this month just a couple of weeks before the survey was conducted. meanwhile, just a few percentage points separate the candidates in the three states that could decide who our next president will be. president obama holds a four-point lead over mitt romney in virginia and florida. that's according to a new nbc news/maris poll. the president leads the presumptive gop candidate by six points in ohio. despite the advantage, president

obama is still well below the 50% threshold that is usually considered safe for an incumbent. 5:34. 71 degrees. ready to kick off the summer? what you can expect if you're hitting the roads for the holiday weekend. plus, we haven't seen any hurricanes yet. but this is the weekend to get ready for hurricane season. a warm start to your morning as you head out the door.

today is gonna be an important day for us.

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my feet are too dry and cracked for sandals. try gold bond foot cream. it has moisturizers that penetrate thick skin. thanks. think gold bond. ♪ this stuff works a debate over russian language sparked a brawl among politicians in ucrane. the fight broke out during a debate over naming the russian language as an official language in parts of the ukraine. the idea was violently opposed by politicians who want to maintain ukraine's cultural and

political independence from its powerful neighbor. at least one person was taken to the hospital with what appeared to be a head wound. >> whoa. >> yeah. >> emotions running strong. >> we see that a lot of times -- video like that from the fights that break out in other legislatures around the world. can you imagine if nancy pelosi and -- >> i guess it goes to show that we're auto -- i guess the people in our congressional leadership show a lot of restraint. they're probably wanting to throw punches at times. >> glad they do, though. >> yes. 5:39. i want to turn to meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4 as we await the rising of the sun this morning, tom. and it's already warm out there, though. >> yeah. there's the first light of day showing up over the nation's capital. that is a live view from our h.d. city camera. as you see there, there are low clouds still lingering over the region on this friday morning. really, you should not have any travel problems weatherwise this morning. now here is a view from space,

going back in time over the last 12 hours, here we were. areas in red and orange, heavy downpours just to the west of fredericksburg and into southern fauquier county and west central fauquier and northeastern culpeper. there we're getting very heavy rain. then as it moved north, it broke up a little bit. there were heavy downpours around prince william county again into loudoun and western fairfax. it pretty much broke up after it crossed the potomac. this morning, low clouds over the metro area. although the cloud cover has broken up over the eastern shore. partly cloudy there to mostly clear sky. as well as out of the mountains, a few locations have dipped into the 50s in western maryland. much of west virginia. closer to washington, we're in the upper 60s in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, and prince george's countys to near 70. low 70s in washington and near the chesapeake bay. away from the water, southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore, upper 60s many locations

there. if you are traveling, crossing the bay bridge, heading toward easton, to cambridge, then to salisbury, ocean city, you should not have any travel problems this afternoon. here's the forecast for the metro area for the rest of the day. near 80 noontime. partly cloudy. during the afternoon hours, ought to peak in the mid 80s. just a few clouds around. only a slight chance of an isolated thundershower. i'm back in ten minutes with my latest school visit. we'll look at the beach forecast as well as your seven-day outlook for the holiday weekend into next week. danella? good morning. traveling on the roadway, trying to head out, this is the time to really get out. if you have the day off, you should jump on the road. light volume in the area. here's a live look at i-95 at prince william parkway. making your way southbound, your travel lanes are open. in fact, from the beltway to prince william parkway. northbound, picking up some momentum, as well. no issues as you make your way to the interchange. you see very light volume traveling north and south on i-95, connecting to 395. issue free. travel speed about 61 miles per

hour, 13 minutes to get from prince william parkway to the capital beltway. now over to i-270, not bad at all making your way past 109 southbound. as you continue toward germantown. i can tell you traveling out of frederick now, on i-270 southbound, i'm not seeing any delays and northbound nice and clear, as well, on both roads. you're accident free. aaron and eun? >> thank you. it is 5:42 now. waiting to learn her fate. the punishment facing a former senate candidate for -- facing a woman who hit and killed a former senate candidate. and a story that will have you taking your foot off the gas pedal. the places you're most likely to get caught speeding.

15 before the hour. a prince george's county woman

could spend a decade in prison for killing a senate candidate in maryland. 43-year-old kristi littleford was found guilty of killing natasha pedigrew in september of 2010. t the accident happened in largo. she hit pedigrew on her bike, she later died. she drove home with pedigrew's bike lodged under her suv. >> the jury did not buy her explanation that she thought she hit a deer. that she went home and returned -- the fact was there was a bicycle tangled under her car with sparks flying from the bicycle. she drove home with the bicycle and did not return to the scene. >> pedigrew was a green party candidate to represent maryland in the u.s. senate. littleford will be sentenced on august 3. a montgomery county man is behind bars this morning on gun-related charge after an officer stopped him for jaywalking. police say an officer stopped a group of people who were

jaywalking near belpre road and aspen hill. they say the 21-year-old took off running with a backpack. when officers caught up to him he tried to ditch the bag. after retracing his steps, they found it in a trash can with a loaded hague and extra ammunition. he is being held on a $,000 bond. a new report -- $5,000 bond. a new report says states have not been spending the majority of money collected from tobacco taxes on funding for tobacco prevention programs. according to the cdc, states have only spent 3% of the billions they've received in taxes and legal settlements over the past decade. the number has declined in recent years as states dealt with budget deficits. some maryland residents may be able to hold off on having so-called smart electric meters installed in their homes. the maryland public service commission says customers can hold off on getting the meters until the panel decides whether customers can opt out of the meters altoogether. it affects bge and delmarva as

well as potomac customers. it's supposed to give a more accurate reading of how much electricity a house is using. police say a man approached two women at landmark plaza last october. he told them he worked for the world bank and could grant them citizenship. he also promised a green card for relatives in africa for $10,000. the victims paid up, but the suspect didn't do anything in return for the money. the women later confronted him and called fairfax county police. a warning this morning from prince george's county police. if someone calls you claiming you've won millions in a sweepstakes, it may be a scam. con artists just schemed a 70-year-old woman out of thousands of dollars. they told her she'd won $2.5 million and a new mercedes if she gave them $8,000 in gift cards to cover the cost of taxes. fortunately the woman's bank became suspicious when she wi withdrew $8,000 in cash. they froze payment on 11 of 16

gift cards she purchased. >> i think we have a good police force. it was pure luck -- maybe the good lord was on our side. >> police fear there may be victims who are too embarrassed to come forward. today the world's first private supply ship will make a historic rendezvous with the international space station. the spacex "dragon" capsule passed within a mile of iss yesterday for a series of tests. today, a robotic arm from the space lab will reach out to grab the capsule to dock it, and you can see that here in this animation. aboard, more than 1,000 pounds of food, clothing, equipment, and supplies. "dragon" is scheduled to return to earth thursday. in parts of the world, if -- as the globe turns, if you will, they might be able to see the station from the grounds if it's not too cloudy -- >> not here. too many clouds.

they call it a demonstration, not a parade. each memorial day weekend rolling thunder rides through the capital to show support for the military. sunday the will gather at the north pentagon parking lot starting at 8:00 in the morning. at noon the group will ride to the veterans memorial. motorists should be prepared for rolling street closures on sunday. starting today, virginia residents can prepare for the upcoming hurricane season and save some money at the same time. emergency items like batteries, flashlights, and first aid kits that cost under $60 will be exempt from the state's 5% sales tax. generators that cost less than $1,000 are exempt. the holiday lasts through thursday. the atlantic hurricane season officially starts the next day, june 1. as many get ready to celebrate memorial day weekend, the national parks service is warning people to be careful in the water. officials say many young swimmers will become dare devils, jumping from cliffs as high as 50 feet into the water. they warn that this is extremely

dangerous and can result in serious injuries. >> we want to bring that to people's attention that that is dangerous, highly reckless behavior. that activity almost invites a serious accident. we understand while the water is alluring and attractive, that cannot happen. >> national parks service officials are also warning boatsers to be careful. they're reminding everyone that boaters have to wear a life jacket, no matter what. you can expect a lot of company on the roads if you're heading out of town for the long holiday weekend. aaa twps more than 875,000 people to travel away from home, 17,000 more than last year and most will be on the road, almost 90% are driving. that's up from -- up 1.9% from last year. 8. % of travelers will be flying, down 5%.

>> all right. they're going to be -- there will be a lot of people on the roads regardless. it's going to be crowded. >> absolutely. 5:51. tom kierein has the good news. the bad news is the roads will be crowded. the good news is, tom -- >> probably no travel problems weatherwise. there are the low clouds. low clouds over capitol hill and the potomac river. a gray start to this friday. 72 at reagan national. a very light southeasterly wind now. humidity is rather high, as well. in the wake of some overnight showers that have passed to the north, leaving pavement wet. low clouds over the district. eastern shore, breaking up, sunshine shortly. sun's rising in a couple of minutes. to the west, we have the clear sky, too, over the mountains now. temperatures much of west virginia, around 60 as well as shenandoah valley. closer to washington, near 70 in washington. and the nearby suburbs, around the beltway, lower part of the bay, in the mid to upper 16.

and here's your day planner. we'll have our temperature reaching the mid 80s this afternoon. partly cloudy, a slight chance of an isolated thundershower. then overnight tonight, we'll begin to clear out a bit. heading to the beaches, water temperatures only 65 degrees. and as we get through the weekend, each day highs only in the 70s at the beaches. we'll be cooler because of a wind off the water. probably more clouds on monday than saturday and sunday. inland away from the waters, hot. mid 80s this afternoon. near 90 saturday, sunday, into memorial day. we'll have more clouds around. back to work and school tomorrow, zeal some clouds around, and -- on tuesday, maybe showers and thunder. i visited the stenwood school earlier this week. these were kindergartners, they were giggly, but they did pay attention. we had fun at the stenwood elementary school in fairfax county. want to thank teacher jenny

flynn for the invitation. danella? >> you make weather fun. that's why i'm sure they were giggling. i-66, let's take the drive together. no major issue at all. if only every day could be this nice out of haymarket, toward centralville eastbound. westbound, as well, nice and clear. i-66, earlier construction at nutley. it's long gone. continuing inside the beltway, no issues. here's a live look at glebe, eastbound very light volume. travel speed eastbound as you make your way to gw parkway, traveling at 57 miles per hour. even through the rosslyn tunnel, nice and clear. back to you. >> deon't do that. was she bowling? >> bowling down the lanes because they're clear. >> do it. >> go, danella! the kickoff to the summer season isn't keeping pert from closing stations and doing some track work, as well. four stations on the green line will close tonight. greenbelt, college park, prince george's plaza, and west hyattsville. buses will run between greenbelt

and ft. totten to get you around the closures. trains will single track on the red line between forest glen and tacoma. work start at 10:00 and will last through the holiday on monday. you're going to have start saving extra to ride trains and buses this summer. metro passed their annual budget last night, locking in a series of fare hikes and changes that will take effect july 1. among them, a 5% raise in rail and bus fares, a 25-cent raise in parking fees, and $1 surcharge for riders who use paper. there will be a 28-day smartrip pass available. a $it.5 billion -- $2.5 billion budget will pay for rush plus. an effort starting next month that will add trains to tackle overcrowding. a tense moment at bwi marshall airport. bomb crews were called in for a piece of smoking luggage. the luggage came off a southwest flight headed to las vegas yesterday afternoon. it turned out just to be an aerosol can that had started spraying inside the bag. the scene was cleared an hour

later, and passengers were soon on their way to vegas. a warning now before you hit the road today and for the summer. the national motorist association is out with a list of places where you are more likely to get a traffic ticket. maryland makes the top five states for tickets with nevada giving out most of them. d.c. is among the top ten ticket-happy metro areas with atlanta coming in at number one. so where are you most likely to avoid a ticket? well, the wide-open spaces of wyoming followed by montana. >> not surprising there. stretches of road. all right. >> and dirt apparently off to the side. there is a new king bee. >> that's right, a 14-year-old is the new "national geographic" spelling bee champion. >> one of sufficient correct. one of you -- one of you is correct. one of you will be the 2012 "national geographic" bee champion. that individual is the newcomer.

rahul nagrakhar. congratulations, young man. >> the houstonian of crowned champ after four tiebreaker rounds. can you imagine the pressure -- intensity? he took home a $25,000 scholarship and a trip to the galapagos islands. a maryland student was also in the running, that's adam rousak, an eighth grader from gaithersburg. he was the first to be eliminated in the final. but still big congrats to him and all the winners. a lot of smart guys and girls. >> a lot of tough questions. was asking yesterday what the largest saltwater lake is in the world. and -- >> the world? >> yeah. >> the caspian sea. but it was one of those thing we had to look up a few times. >> thank goodness for google. ahead, what sent some kids from a tour group to the hospital that firefighters say is all too common? and a big police response overnight at a local courthouse. the unusual incident.

while you slept, a bizarre incident in a strange place. a shooting,